Container for lamp bulbs or the like



June 23, 1964 P. w. MIESSLER, SR 3,138,256

CONTAINER FOR LAMP BULBS OR THE LIKE Filed Sept. 21, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet l I0 3 3 2] FIGI 2;. 3+}: if 11- -61 INVENTOR 1 PAUL W. MIESSLER,SR.

A TTORNEY June 23, 1964 p, w. MIESSLER, sR 3,138,256

CONTAINER FOR LAMP BULBS OR THE LIKE Filed Sept. 21, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

I7 PAUL w. MIESSLER, SR.

XNMJ ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,138,256 CONTAINER FOR LAMP BULBS OR THE LIKE Paul W. Miessler, Sr., Berea, Ohio, assignor to The Flintkote Company, New York, N .Y., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Sept. 21, 1962, Ser. No. 225,240 4 Claims. {CL 206-65) This invention relates to a container and more particularly to a container of the type used for packaging incandescent lamp bulbs or the like for storage and shipment.

The invention is more particularly concerned with a container -for holding a pair of such lamp bulbs or the like in a manner effective for preventing injurious contact between the bulbs and otherwise eliminating or sub stantially reducing the likelihood of damage to the bulbs during shipment storage and normal handling.

It has heretofore been the practice in merchandising electric lamp bulbs, to package them in containers holding a pair of bulbs of equal size, andto insert two or more of such packages in an outer protective sleeve for storage and shipment.

As a practical matter, it is desirable that the container be of collapsible form so that the same may be shipped by the container manufacturer to the lamp bulb manufacturer in flat, collapsed form. It is also highly desirable that the collapsed form of the container be such as will enable it to be readily erected to its open form for rapid loading of the same with the lamp bulbs by the bulb manufacturer.

In my prior patents, No. 2,825,496, dated March 4, 1958, and No. 2,940,653, dated June 14, 1960, I have described and claimed collapsible containers designed to serve the aforesaid purposes.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved collapsible container for lamp bulbs or the like, which will hold a pair of bulbs in adequately protected position relative to one another.

Another object of the invention is to provide a container for lamp bulbs so constructed as not only to prevent damaging contact between the bulbs but which will enable the bulbs to be packed in cartons for storage and shipment without requiring the use of an outer sleeve for the loaded containers. By thus making it possible to dispense with theneed for the outer sleeve, a very considerable saving in the cost of packaging and shipping lamp bulbs or the like is effected,

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved collapsible container of the character aforesaid, constructed so as to be readily erected for loading the same with lamp bulbs either by hand or by machine operation, and which may readily be fabricated from a blank which requires a minimum of material.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a container as aforesaid which may readily be fabricated from a one-piece blank of single faced corrugated paper or board of rectangular form by the provision therein merely or certain scores and slits, as will be hereinafter pointed out, to achieve the purposes and advantages above 7 or erected condition ready to receive a pair of lamp V amass Patented June 23, 1964 bulbs, this View however showing the container resting on a side wall thereof;

FIG. 3 is a similar end view of the container with a pair of lamp bulbs inserted therein;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view, with portions broken away, of the erected container with the parts in the bulb holding position;

FIG. 5 is an end view illustrating the container in partially set-up position; and

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal section through the container, with two light bulbs positioned therein. I

The container of the present invention is preferably fabricated from a blank composed of single faced corrugated paper. MG. 1 shows the blank in plan view, as delivered from the slitting and scoring machine and with adhesive applied at the proper locations, before folding of the blank into the collapsed carton form in which it is shipped from the manufacturer thereof to the light bulb manufacturer by whom it is erected and loaded with lamp bulbs.

Referring to FIG. 1, the blank is indicated generally by reference numeral 16 It comprises a panel 11 at one end thereof, constituting the top wall of the erected container, and hingedly joined along a crease or score line 12 to a panel 13 constituting one of the side walls of the container. "ihe panel .13 is similarly joined along a crease or score line 14 to panel 15 constituting the bottom Wall of the container. Panel 15 is similarly joined by a crease or score line 16 to panel 17 constituting the other side wall of the container.

iiingedly joined to the side wall panel 17 along a crease or score line 18 is a sectional panel, indicated as a whole by numeral 253, and consisting essentially of three hingedly connected panel sections 21, 22 and 23. Panel sect-ion 21 is spaced by the intermediate panel section 22 from end panel section 23, the longitudinal edge of the latter constituting the end edge 24 of the blank.

As will be understood, the inner face of the blank 10 is corrugated, while its outer face is the relatively smooth liner sheet of the single faced corrugated paper or board of which the blank is made.

Each of the panels 11, 15, 13 and 1'7, respectively, constituting the top wall, bottom wall, and the side walls of the erected container, as well, preferably, as the sectional panel Zil, extends from one side edge of the blank to its opposite side edge and hence will all be of the same length in the completed container.

In accordance with one of the important features of the invention, panel section 22 is hingedly connected to panel section 21 along a pair of spaced, aligned scores 31 and along an intermediate score 32 parallel to the scores 31 and offset therefrom a slight distance inwardly with respect to the longitudinal median line of panel section 22.

Panel section 22 is likewise hingedly connected to panel section 233, namely, along a pair of spaced, aligned scores 33 and along an intermediate score 34 parallel to scores 33 and offset therefrom a slight distance inwardly with respect to longitudinal median line of panel section 22.

Further in accordance with the invention, panel section 22. is formed with a pair of longitudinally spaced tabs 41, 42. As will be seen from FIG. 1, tab 41 isdefined by oppositely inclined slits 43, 45 constituting the side edges of the tab, and by a slit 47, preferably of arcuate contour and having its opposite ends '71, 73 disposed slightly beyond the respective scores 31, 33 and joined to the corresponding ends of the slits d3, 45. Similarly, the

tab 42 is defined by oppositely inclined slits 44, 46 (diverging relative to slits 43, 45, respectively) and by an arcuate slit 43 having its opposite ends 72, 73 similarly disposed slightly beyond the respective scores 31, 33 and joined to the corresponding ends of slits 44, 46.

Each of the tabs 41, 42 is thus hingedly connected to the panel section 22 along a line extending parallel to the corrugations of the corrugated paper of which the blank is made.

For a purpose to be hereinafter explained, the distance between intermediate score 32 and intermediate score 34 is substantially equal to the transverse dimension of the side wall panels 13, 17, whereas the aligned scores 31 are spaced from the aligned scores 33 a distance somewhat greater than the transverse dimension of the side wall panels.

Preferably, relatively shallow indentations or scores 51, 52 are formed along the longitudinal median line of panel section 22 between the respective side edges of the blank and the arcuate slits 47, 48.

Glue or other suitable adhesive is applied along lines indicated at 61 to the inner surface of panel 11, and a similar glue line is applied along panel section 23, as indicated at 63.

The completed blank in the form above described may then be passed through folding operations to convert it into the collapsed tubular form of the container. For that purpose, the blank may first be folded along the score line 18 so that the sectional panel 20 overlies side wall panel 17 and a portion of bottom wall panel 15. Panel section 23 is secured by the adhesive 63 to the inner face of the bottom wall panel 15 intermediate the edge 24 and scores 33. The portion of the blank comprising side wall panel 13 and top wall panel 11 is folded along the score 14 so as to overlie the folded sectional panel 29, with the outer edge 64 disposed substantially along fold line 18. The relatively smooth, non-corrugated surface of panel section 21 is secured to top wall panel 11 by the glue lines 61 intermediate the hinge line 18 and scores 31.

The thus folded and glued collapsed form of the container may readily be erected by exerting relatively slight pressure on the opposite folded sides thereof, i.c., along the hinged fold lines 14 and 18. As will be seen, panel section 22 intermediate the attaching panel sections 21 and 23 constitutes a divider wall portion hingedly connected to sections 21 and 23 and dividing the container into two compartments, each extending lengthwise thereof.

Since the spacing between the scores 33 and the scores 31 is, as above indicated, somewhat greater than the transverse dimension of the side walls, i.c., greater than the inside height dimension of the container, the portions of the divider wall 22 extending between each end edge thereof and the respectively adjacent arcuate slits 47, 48 will necessarily tend to buckle or bow so as to assume a position as illustrated, for example, in FIG. 2. This bowing of the aforesaid portions of the divider wall is facilitated by the light scores or indentations 51, 52.

After the container has been fully erected, i.c., when its side walls extend in planes substantially at right angles to the planes of the top and bottom walls, the tabs 41, 42 may be swung on their respective hinge lines 49, 50 in opposite directions to one another so that each of them is disposed in a plane extending at an angle with respect to the plane of the side walls 13 and 17. As will be noted, particularly from FIG. 4, in this position of the tabs, the top and bottom edges of one of the tabs will engage the adjacent inner faces of the top wall 11 and the attaching panel section 23, while the top and bottom edges of the other tab will engage the adjacent inner faces of the attaching panel portion 21 and the bottom wall 15. In this manner, the angularly disposed tabs 41, 42 serve to maintain the container in its erected condition. This function of the tabs 41, 42 derives from the fact that, as clearly illustrated in the drawing, the overall height of the tabs, i.c., the distance between the extremities of their end edges (as 71 and 73 or '72 and 74) is somewhat greater than the inside height dimension of the container.

When thus erected and set up, the container comprises a pair of relatively elongated compartments separated from one another by divider wall panel 22, each compartment adapted to receive one of a pair of lamp bulbs.

As will be evident, particularly from FIGS. 4 and 6, the thus compartmented container may receive a pair of lamp bulbs in reversely nested, overlapping, position. The loading of the container with the bulbs is facilitated by the above-mentioned bowing of the divider panel 22 adjacent its opposite ends, so as to readily receive and accommodate the enlarged end of the bulbs.

In addition to the frictional engagement between the surface of the bulb and the inner surfaces of the container walls in contact therewith, the enlarged end of the bulb extends partly into the opening formed when the tab 41 (or 42) is swung into angular position. The arcuate edge of the opening conforms to the curvature of the enlarged end of the bulb and thus assists in holding the bulb in place. At the same time the angularly disposed tab (41 or 42) is constrained into frictional engagement with the neck portion of the other bulb positioned reversely nested in the container.

The container as herein described and illustrated in the drawing may readily be formed from a rectangular blank of material such as single faced corrugated paper or board at relatively high speed by means of a simple scoring and slitting roll on conventional machines for continuously forming box blanks.

An important advantage of the invention, as above indicated, is that the container loaded with a pair of lamp bulbs as described may be packed with others in conventional shipping cartons without requiring the use of an outer sleeve for each pair of loaded containers. This not only eliminates the cost of the sleeve and the labor required to assemble the same with the loaded containers, but effects a further saving in that it reduces the size of the carton or box in which the loaded containers are packed for storage and shipment.

WVhat is claimed is:

1. An open-ended collapsible container of single-face corrugated paper for receiving a pair of lamp bulbs arranged in side-by-side substantially oppositely disposed relation, comprising in combination:

(a) a tube having a top wall, a bottom wall and a pair of side walls in which the corrugated face is directed inwardly,

(b) a divider wall hingedly connected to and extending between said top wall and said bottom wall at a point intermediate said side walls to form a pair of lamp bulb receiving compartments, and

(c) a pair of tabs cut out of said divider wall on op posite sides of transverse center line of said divider wall and foldable in opposite directions into the respective lamp bulb receiving compartments at an angle to the plane of said divider panel,

(d) said tabs having a transverse dimension greater than the transverse dimension of said side walls so that in erected position the ends of the tabs engage the corrugations of the top and bottom walls and support the container in erected position,

(e) the openings in said divider panel formed by the tab portions being of a size to permit a portion of the bulbous portion of a lamp bulb to pass therethrough and enter the adjacent compartment while engaging said portion at the outer edge of the opening and at the inner edge of the opening.

2. A container in accordance with claim 1 wherein the portions of said divider panel located between the outer edge of the respective openings and the respective end of the divider panel has a transverse dimension greater than the transverse dimension of the side walls, said portions being bowed when the container is in erected position to cause engagement by the outer edges of said openings of the bulbous portion of a lamp bulb along an increased distance.

3. A container in accordance with claim 2 wherein the outer edge of each of the openings is arcuate to conform to the contour of the bulbous portion of a lamp bulb and wherein the portion of said divider panel between the inner edges of said openings has a transverse dimension substantially the same as the transverse dimension of said side walls.

4. A blank for forming an open-ended two compartment container from a substantially rectangular piece of paperboard, comprising in combination:

(a) a top panel, a bottom panel and a pair of side panels separated from each other and formed by four longitudinal score lines, and

(b) a divider panel connected to the free edge of one of said side walls by a score line,

(0) said divider panel including a pair of longitudinally spaced tabs cut therefrom and foldable about fold lines along their inner edges, the transverse dimension of said tabs at their widest point being greater than the transverse dimension of said side Walls,

(d) said divider panel being longitudinally scored by a pair of transversely spaced otfset score lines, the central portion of each of said offset score lines located between said tabs and extending to the cut lines forming the same being olfset inwardly from the main portion of the respective offset score line,

(e) the transverse distance between the central portions of said ofiset score lines being substantially the same as the transverse dimension of said side walls and the transverse distance between the main portions of said off-set score lines being greater than the transverse dimension of said side walls.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,732,122 Bolding Jan. 24, 1956 2,940,653 Miessler June 14, 1960 3,051,369 Drake et a1. Aug. 28, 1962 3,069,008 Dugre Dec. 18, 1962 

1. AN OPEN-ENDED COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINER OF SINGLE-FACE CORRUGATED PAPER FOR RECEIVING A PAIR OF LAMP BULBS ARRANGED IN SIDE-BY-SIDE SUBSTANTIALLY OPPOSITELY DISPOSED RELATION, COMPRISING IN COMBINATION: (A) A TUBE HAVING A TOP WALL, A BOTTOM WALL AND A PAIR OF SIDE WALLS IN WHICH THE CORRUGATED FACE IS DIRECTED INWARDLY, (B) A DIVIDER WALL HINGEDLY CONNECTED TO AND EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID TOP WALL AND SAID BOTTOM WALL AT A POINT INTERMEDIATE SAID SIDE WALLS TO FORM A PAIR OF LAMP BULB RECEIVING COMPARTMENTS, AND (C) A PAIR OF TABS CUT OUT OF SAID DIVIDER WALL ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF TRANSVERSE CENTER LINE OF SAID DIVIDER WALL AND FOLDABLE IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS INTO THE RESPECTIVE LAMP BULB RECEIVING COMPARTMENTS AT AN ANGLE TO THE PLANE OF SAID DIVIDER PANEL, (D) SAID TABS HAVING A TRANSVERSE DIMENSION GREATER THAN THE TRANSVERSE DIMENSION OF SAID SIDE WALLS SO THAT IN ERECTED POSITION THE ENDS OF THE TABS ENGAGE THE CORRUGATIONS OF THE TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS AND SUPPORT THE CONTAINER IN ERECTED POSITION, (E) THE OPENINGS IN SAID DIVIDER PANEL FORMED BY THE TAB PORTIONS BEING OF A SIZE TO PERMIT A PORTION OF THE BULBOUS PORTION OF A LAMP BULB TO PASS THERETHROUGH AND ENTER THE ADJACENT COMPARTMENT WHILE ENGAGING SAID PORTION AT THE OUTER EDGE OF THE OPENING AND AT THE INNER EDGE OF THE OPENING. 